Many consumers, and businesses, create, and try to adhere to, financial budgets. To this end, many consumers, and businesses, employ one or more computing system implemented financial management systems such as, but not limited to: computing system implemented personal and small business financial management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented business systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented tax preparation systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented accounting and/or invoicing systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; and various other electronic transaction driven data management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications.
Regardless of the means used to create a budget, most consumers create a budget based on “standard” income sources such as, but not limited to: salary; commissions; hourly pay; and any other regularly and periodically received/expected income. However, in addition to their standard income, many consumers receive “supplementary” income such as, but not limited to: performance-based bonuses; holiday based bonuses; performance-based commissions; tax refunds; tax rebates; stock dividends; profit sharing; structured settlement payments; or any other form of income that is received in addition to standard income.
Despite the fact that many types of supplementary income are periodic in nature, and are often very predictable, both in terms of amount and timing, many consumers treat supplementary income as money that is outside the budgeting process. Consequently, many consumers treat supplementary income quite differently than their standard income. As an example, some consumers treat supplementary income as “disposable” income that is available to spend on products and/or services of a luxury or relatively frivolous nature such as new electronics, vacations, hobbies, etc. On the other hand, some consumers treat supplementary income as investment capital to be invested and saved. Whichever type of consumer a given consumer is, in many cases, the way a given consumer treats supplementary income is often very identifiable and very predictable once a pattern is established. For instance, a given consumer may regularly, and very predictably, use his or her Christmas bonus to fund a trip to Las Vegas each year.
Sellers and/or providers of consumer goods and services, and advertisers and providers of marketing devices, herein also referred collectively as “product marketers” are constantly looking for new ways to provide advertising and/or marketing devices to potential customers more effectively and efficiently. This includes new ways to more specifically target a given “type” of consumer having a given consumer spending profile. Consequently, many product marketers would benefit from: identifying if, and when, a given consumer typically receives supplementary income; how a given consumer treats his or her supplemental income, i.e., does a given consumer typically spend or save supplementary income; and, if the given consumer typically spends supplemental income, how he or she spends it, or if the given consumer typically saves supplementary income how he or she chooses to invest it. If product marketers had this information, then a product marketer could target a given consumer with one or more marketing devices such as, but not limited to: coupons, advertisements, discount certificates, price guarantees, and vouchers.
In addition, most consumers would prefer to receive advertising that is relevant to the consumer, i.e., that is of use to the consumer and/or is directed to products and/or services the consumer uses when he or she uses them.
Despite the desire of product marketers, as well as consumers, to create a better system for reaching desirable consumers, there currently is often no information, or limited information, available to the product marketers about a given consumer to enable the product marketers to accurately profile a given consumer with respect supplementary income.
As a result of the situation discussed above, product marketers are denied the opportunity to identify and target particularly desirable consumers based on their supplementary income usage, and consumers are also denied savings and efficiency that might otherwise be available to them. Consequently, the current situation represents a disservice to product marketers, as well as consumers.